La Lola

21.04.2011

After visiting my dad, John & I stopped past La Lola for a quick bite for dinner. One of our favourite places to go and the food is superb!

Although it only opened in early 2010, this pizzeria has already gained a solid reputation for its mouth-watering woodfired pizzas and fashionable clientele. La Lola is packed out most nights of the week and they don’t take bookings; however, waiting for a table to open up in the sleek lounge out the back can be just as rewarding as the food itself, and that’s saying something. It’s best to get there early say around 6 as you won’t be waiting long for a table.

The uber-cool, but deliberately un-posh La Lola in Nedlands is a triumph of the designer arts. Its moody, polished interior is redolent of a stylish trattoria one might find in a cobbled Italian piazza and at $600,000 and counting for the fitout, it’s a huge investment for a relatively small restaurant. They have such a relax feel to the restaurant with cutlery, menus and olive oil already placed on the tables. La Lola has the option of both interior or outdoor dining and it is also BYO wine only.

Pizzas are cooked to order in a massive woodfire oven and reach the table piping hot with just the right amount of fresh, seasonal produce for toppings. The puttanesca (tomato, fresh mozzarella, white anchovies, olives, baby capers, spring onions and parsley) is a great example of how simple ingredients can add up to make something truly special.

We were lucky to have grabbed a table in the restaurant and not having to wait too long for a table. We were waiting for a fair while before the waitperson took our drink and dinner order. I was quite surprised with the service, it felt like we were being ignored.

We were so tired from the day, we just wanted to have a dish each to fill our tummies so we ordered a couple of their pasta dishes. I ordered their spaghetti with blue swimmer crab, salmon, tiger prawns cooked in olive oil and chilli. The pasta was al dente accompanied with the freshest and the sweetness of the seafood and a hint of heat from the chilli. I love the simple flavours that always work perfectly together.

John ordered the pasta special which was strozzapreti (hand –rolled twisted pasta) with wild mushrooms, Italian sausage ragu and fresh basil. It was divine, the home made fresh strozzapreti was again al dente and gave the dish a wonderful texture. They had removed the meat from the Italian sausages and cooked it in a ragu which is a meat based sauce till tender and added different types of mushrooms. It was just wonderful.

We’ve always had a fantastic meal at La Lola and the food made up for the wait when we first arrived. The meal cost us $88 with a couple of wines and a bottle of sparkling water which for some people it maybe a little overpriced but the quality and flavours of their food is impeccable.

On the whole, 9 ½ for the food quality, 9 for the atmosphere, 8 for pricing and 8 for service.